Bound Volumes, Hometown History

November 21, 2024

90 YEARS AGO

Inherited monkey characteristics are responsible for humankind’s widespread use of the telephone, radio, talking pictures, and similar inventions, Dr. Orestes Caldwell, engineer and editor, asserts. “Outstanding traits of the monkey tribe,” said Dr. Caldwell, “are love of chatter and overwhelming curiosity – traits which have carried our own evolution to its present level of civilization. Monkeys like to gather in the treetops and chatter. And today, their human descendants delight to gather in conventions, night clubs, legislatures and afternoon teas. How acute is this love of chatter on the part of humans is attested by the fact that the anthropoid home of today has invented elaborate mechanisms and systems to carry this chatter from place to place, until the present capital investment based on human chatter totals billions of dollars.” (Ed. note: Dr. Caldwell’s observation 80 years ago is reflected in our present-day “treetop chatter” via cell phone texting, twitter, e-mail, and the internet in general)

November 1934